Higher Education and economic growth – a Scottish perspective
By Dr Lena Wilson, Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise
It may surprise some to know that Scotland is a world leader in higher education.We have the highest concentration of universities in Europe and the highest ratio of research publications per head of population in the world. Almost 225,000 students are registered with Scottish universities – 15% of whom are from outside the UK.
Our universities employ more than 35,000 people and have a combined turnover of more than £2.5 billion – almost half of which is sourced from the private sector and competitively won sources. Export earnings, alone, are estimated to be worth more than £500 million.
If we are to accelerate economic recovery, we need more companies operating internationally and we need better leaders who can spot these opportunities and are not afraid to go after them.
The sheer scale of some of these numbers demonstrates the critical role that universities already play in Scotland’s economic performance. But we believe they offer even greater potential and are working together to identify how we can capitalise on the research strengths across all of our universities to create even more value for Scotland’s economy.
We’ve seen some of the biggest medical and scientific breakthroughs occur in our universities. This includes some of the more notorious developments such as Dolly, the first cloned sheep, but also less well known breakthroughs such as penicillin, the cervical cancer vaccine and CT and MRI scanners. However, we recognise that it is not enough to just be a nation that produces outstanding research.We want to be known as a country that exploits that research to generate more wealth, more jobs and more investment.
To do that, we need to get better at growing the companies that emerge from the commercialisation of research and develop greater links between our universities and businesses that will help fuel growth in Scotland’s key industries. That includes promoting the capabilities of our universities internationally so they can act as a magnet for attracting new investment from global companies looking to partner in new research or establish a new R&D base. It also includes creating a culture of entrepreneurship within our universities to help spark more spin out companies while at the same time helping our existing company base to access technology being developed in our universities that will help them develop new products or open up new markets.
In Glasgow, we’ve announced our ambitions to establish the International Technology and Renewable Energy Zone (ITREZ) – a cluster of activity that draws on both the academic expertise and capabilities at the University of Strathclyde alongside the private sector that will establish Glasgow as a powerhouse of green energy developments. The growth of the renewables sector is a top priority of both the Scottish and UK governments. Our universities have a fundamental role to play in helping us to achieve those ambitions.
The greatest flow of knowledge from universities to industry is through the recruitment of graduates.
ITREZ will transform Glasgow city centre and act as a hub for Scotland’s research, development and commercialisation activity in renewables. Scottish, UK and international companies will be able to access cutting edge research and some of the best people working within the sector to develop new products that will shape the renewable energy industry of tomorrow.
We recognise that universities can also help to address challenges that have permeated our business base for a number of years and affected overall productivity levels. Specifically, issues around internationalisation and leadership. Both of these areas are hugely important in the current climate. If we are to accelerate economic recovery, we need more companies operating internationally and we need better leaders who can spot these opportunities and are not afraid to go after them.
The international reputation of Scotland’s education sector means that our universities are pushing at an open door in emerging economies like China and India, which have experienced the fastest growth in recent years and offer some of the biggest opportunities for Scottish companies.We’re working with our university base to identify how we can make more of these international networks to enable our company base to internationalise and exploit new opportunities in key sectors and attract new inward investment.
Higher education also has a significant role to play in enhancing the leadership capabilities within our companies. The greatest flow of knowledge from universities to industry is through the recruitment of graduates – Scotland’s future business leaders. The increasing focus on enterprise skills across undergraduate courses can only enhance this future supply. But today, too many of our companies are underperforming because their leaders can’t see their potential or how to improve the way they do business.We need to encourage our business base to be more ambitious, to raise their aspirations.
A number of our universities, including Glasgow Caledonian University and Napier University, already have real strengths in MBA provision and research.We are also working with other universities to explore how we can compete with global business schools and enhance the provision of strategic business leadership.
While all of these activities – developing better links with industry, commercialisation and knowledge transfer, internationalisation and leadership – can support economic growth, they can also transform the performance of individual universities.
The economic environment across the UK is going to remain pretty tough and the higher education sector has its own challenges to deal with, particularly around the public funding environment. However, there’s no doubt that universities can continue to play a leading role in the country’s economic recovery and, at the same time, identify exciting new opportunities for themselves.
Lena Wilson is Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise, working with businesses across Scotland to stimulate economic growth and improve the business environment.
